The Astonishing Xmen
by Thor27
Summary: The X-men's adventures taking place instead of "X-Men 3: The Last Stand".


**A/N:**_ Takes place instead of "The Last Stand"._

**THE ASTONISHING X-MEN**

**CHAPTER 1**

"**Beginning"**

Piotr Rasputin sat atop the Statue of Liberty. He was clad in his X-men uniform, growing bored of the same scenario. As dull as it was, he had tried to remember Kurt's' advice: Practice makes perfect. While that may have applied to circus tricks, each time he fought this fight the opponent changed tactics, meaning repetition had nothing to do with it.

"Enjoying your soliloquy?" asked the fiendish mutant that approached behind him, "or do you want to do something entertaining?"

Colossus turned and saw Toad (the one who'd been goading him), Sabretooth, Mystique and Magneto standing behind him. His aim was simple. Defeat the mutants and rescue Rogue before the world's leaders could be THWACK! Toad spat a glob of slime right into Piotr's face. Colossus reached up and ripped it off, before grabbing Toad and throwing him up into Magneto's "Mutant Gene Amplifier". The device was destroyed and Rogue was safe, although Toad would need crutches for the foreseeable future. Sabretooth leaped forward with a growl, but Colossus merely swatted him away and off the edge of the statue. He punched Mystique back into a wall and kicked Magneto to the floor, unconscious. The simulation ended and the holographic villains vanished.

BAMF! Kurt Wagner appeared next to him with a puff of smoke and the stench of brimstone.

"Excellent work, mein freund. A new record. The Professor is requesting the team's presence in the student lounge."

The circus-performer grabbed Piotr's shoulder, and the two bamfed their way into the lounge, where they met up with Professor Xavier, as well as Logan, Ororo and Scott. With them was a tall, thin man, with short blonde hair and a trench-coat with an odd shape occurring on the back.

"Everyone," said the Professor, "This is Warren Worthington III. He'll be serving as a member of the team for the foreseeable future."

"Right. And what exactly can you do," Logan began, before Storm prevented him from giving Warren an insulting nickname.

Warren grabbed the collar of his trench-coat, but hesitated.

"It's okay, Warren. You can show them." Professor Xavier told him.

Warren removed his jacket, and his magnificent, broad white wings stretched out wide. The team stared at him in amazement, and the Professor smiled in accomplishment.

* * *

Over in his island base of Genosha, Magneto was doing some recruiting of his own. After his small Brotherhood had destroyed some Mutant Response Division holding pens, they had quite a few mutants waiting around on his island. Many were too young or too weak to join the Brotherhood, so he had decided to accept only a select few. Together, he, Mystique and Pyro had been interviewing the mutants, to see how well they would serve Magneto's cause. So far, only two had been successful in joining the Brotherhood. A ruthless teleporter named Telford Porter (Vanisher) and a tall, muscular man called Dominikos Petrakis (Avalanche). Once Magneto had decided the Brotherhood was large enough (for the time being), he led the team to their helicopter, where they left off, on a quest of great importance.

On the helicopter, Vanisher had many questions to ask, such as "Where are we going?", "Why are we taking a helicopter when I could just teleport you all there?" and "Didn't you guys used to have that frog-guy on your team? What happened to him?" Pyro merely ignored him, although Magneto seemed to appreciate having a henchman that actually said more than three words. Just before they landed, Telford looked out the window and realised where they were.

"We're screwed" he thought to himself, before remembering who he was fighting alongside.

"Avalanche. Make us an entrance." Magneto instructed. Avalanche stood and held his arms out the window, and the ground began to shake…

* * *

In the lower levels of the Xavier Institute, Warren had just donned his uniform for the first time. It was similar to Scott's, except red parallel lines ran from the belt to the shoulders, and the X on his chest was much smaller than the others. He had been told that Wolverine and Nightcrawler would be running him through the initiation exam, which would decide whether or not he was allowed to join the team, but no-one had fully explained what would occur. He followed the directions that Storm had given him, and reached a door labelled "Danger Room". He began to doubt the safety of the test, but the doors opened and he saw Wolverine standing in the middle of the room. No turning back now. Warren stepped forward into the Danger Room.

"So," said the winged mutant, "what exactly am I supposed to be doing?"

Wolverine smirked. "Avoid getting skewered."

Claws burst from his knuckles, and he leapt towards Warren. Warren flew up out of the way, and Nightcrawler bamfed out of nowhere and was about to kick Warren in the chest, when the mansion was struck by an earthquake. Vanisher appeared in the centre of the room, Pyro by his side. Avalanche and Mystique jumped down through a crack in the roof, and Magneto tore a massive hoe that he floated down in.

Pyro smirked. "Surprise."


End file.
